andes

just if anyone has encountered this problem before.....

i have an ea fairmont ghia wagon

the overflow used to bubble and lose water only when i stopped the car...

the car never got over half way on the heat gauge

the radiator then cracked at the flange at the plastic side tank

someone wanted $260 to replace the side tank only!!!!!!!

so i replaced the whole radiator myself for $270! haha :)

now, the overlow still bubbles when i stop the car

never gets hot

no water in the oil

only loses water when it bubbles out

any ideas?

carazy

yeah just to add to this it doesn't bubble so much as surge in to the overflow tank there is a lot of pressure in there but the water temp is really cool. (after a 45min drive you can almost hold your hand on the pipes.) Andrew unpluged one of the hoses near the inlet manifold to "bleed" the system and air came out and some water after. This fixed the problem for a while but now it's back again.
I'm beginning to think head gasket but it's not getting any of the other normal signs of a blown head gasket.
Maybe we didn't get all the air out?

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Jase_ELXR8

Check you thermostat by holding bottom and top radiator hoses, make sure they're the same temp. Also check your cap too may be holding the wrong pressure... Then check your head gasket....

TopGhia

You can normally bleed air out by turning on the heater full bore and running it at 2,000 rpm for 10 minutes or so, or go for a drive.

What sort of coolant are you using? a 50% mix usually raises the boiling point by a couple of degrees.

Is the reservoir overfilled? mine will piss it out if I fill it over the half-way mark.

Pressure cap faulty/not seated properly. Cap should be 120-130 kPa.

Does it lose any water when being driven, or just with engine off while hot?

Water pump could be faulty.

Best way is to get it pressure tested if everything else checks out.

Cheers

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carazy

hmmmmm water pump is a possablity the cars done just over 200,000 thats when they normally go.
I think it's simply air in the system as he bleed it and now it's no were near as bad.

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xr6t

That's what happened to my EA.

Been having troubles with it overheating for years and then a smart mechanic found that the fan clutch was gone. Replaced it and all works hunky dorey. First time ever. I now sit in traffic on 30 degree days with the air con on and love it, never gets over half way on the temp gauge.

Steve.

YOOT

I remember my old suby, used to over heat almost sitting in traffic, had no power anything and no a/c, was a real bastard to drive in hot traffic. I was even affraid of drive-thrus!!

Now though, the ED is amazing, it actually gets cooler if it sits still. The highest the temp guage has been was between the O and R on NORMAL. Every other day its below or on N. Idling it drops below N too.

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andes

thanks heaps for all the replies...

i have cranked the heater after consulting a Ford dealership tech guy.....he reckons you wil never bleed the system and will always be trying to purge air from it if you dont crank the heater.

So, i ran it for 10 min at 2000rpm with the cap off and the heater cranked...


so far so good.

havent seen a surge since.

Early days but seems like it could have been the problem.

Cool dudes.

cheers.

TopGhia

We love happy endings.

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"I married Miss Right. I just didn't know her first name was Always."

andes

...and now back to Ford Fairmont Ghia goodness!!